Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

v3.22.2.2
Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2022
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation
Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation
The accompanying unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. Management’s opinion is that all adjustments (consisting of normal accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s consolidated financial statements and accompanying Notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2021.

On February 1, 2022, the Board of Directors approved a change of the Company’s fiscal year-end from September 30 to December 31. The Company’s 2022 fiscal year began on January 1, 2022 and will end on December 31, 2022.
Use of Estimates
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience, current business factors, and various other assumptions that the Company believes are necessary to consider to form a basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities, the recorded amounts of revenue and expenses, and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. The Company is subject to uncertainties such as the impact of future events, economic and political factors, and changes in the Company’s business environment; therefore, actual results could differ from these estimates. Accordingly, the accounting estimates used in the preparation of the Company’s financial statements will change as new events occur, as more experience is acquired, as additional information is obtained and as the Company’s operating environment evolves.
Changes in estimates are made when circumstances warrant. Such changes in estimates and refinements in estimation methodologies are reflected in reported results of operations; if material, the effects of changes in estimates are disclosed in the notes to the financial statements. Significant estimates and assumptions by management include, but are not limited to, the allowance for doubtful accounts, the carrying value of long-lived assets, the carrying value of intangible assets and goodwill, revenue recognition, contingencies, the determination of whether a contract contains a lease, the allocation of consideration between lease and nonlease components, the determination of incremental borrowing rates for leases, the provision for income taxes and related deferred tax accounts, and the fair value of stock-based awards.
Reclassification
Reclassification
Certain amounts in prior periods have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation.
Recently Issued Accounting Standards
Recently Issued Accounting Standards - Adopted
In December 2019, FASB issued ASU 2019-12, Simplification of Income Taxes (Topic 740) Income Taxes (“ASU 2019-12”). ASU 2019-12 simplifies the accounting for income taxes by removing certain exceptions to the general principles in Topic 740. The amendments also improve consistent application of and simplify U.S. GAAP for other areas of Topic 740 by clarifying and amending existing guidance. ASU 2019-12 is effective for public companies for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2020, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The adoption of the ASU did not have a significant impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
Recently Issued Accounting Standards - Not Adopted
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-06, Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging— Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40). The objective of this update is to simplify the accounting for convertible preferred stock by removing the existing guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 470-20, Debt: Debt with Conversion and Other Options, (“ASC 470-20”), that requires entities to account for beneficial conversion features and cash conversion features in equity, separately from the host convertible debt or preferred stock. The guidance in ASC 470-20 applies to convertible instruments for which the embedded conversion features are not required to be bifurcated from the host contract and accounted for as derivatives. In addition, the amendments revise the scope exception from derivative accounting in ASC 815-40 for freestanding financial instruments and embedded features that are both indexed to the issuer’s own stock and classified in stockholders’ equity, by removing certain criteria required for equity classification. These amendments are expected to result in more freestanding financial instruments qualifying for equity classification (and, therefore, not accounted for as derivatives), as well as fewer embedded features requiring separate accounting from the host contract. This amendment also further revises the guidance in ASU 260, Earnings per Share, to require entities to calculate diluted EPS for convertible instruments by using the if-converted method. In addition, entities must presume share settlement for purposes of calculating diluted EPS when an instrument may be settled in cash or shares. The amendments in ASU 2020-06 are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, with early adoption permitted. The Company does not expect the adoption of ASU 2020-06 to have a significant impact on its consolidated financial statements.
Revenue Recognition and Cost of Revenue
Revenue Recognition
For Short Distance revenue, seats or monthly or annual flight passes are typically purchased using the Blade App and paid for principally via credit card transactions, wire, check, customer credit, and gift cards, with payments principally collected by the Company in advance of the performance of related services. The revenue is recognized as the service is completed.

MediMobility Organ Transport products are typically purchased through our medical logistics coordinators and are paid for principally via checks and wires. Payments are generally collected after the performance of the related service in accordance with the client's payment terms. The revenue is recognized as the service is completed.

Jet products are typically purchased through our Flier Relations associates and our app and are paid for principally via checks, wires and credit card. Jet payments are typically collected at the time of booking before the performance of the related service. The revenue is recognized as the service is completed.

The Company initially records flight sales in its unearned revenue, deferring revenue recognition until the travel occurs. Unearned revenue from customer credit and gift card purchases is recognized as revenue when a flight is flown or upon the expiration of the gift card. Unearned revenue from the Company’s passes is recognized ratably over the term of the pass. For travel that has more than one flight segment, the Company deems each segment as a separate performance obligation and recognizes revenue for each segment as travel occurs. Fees charged in association with add-on services or changes or
extensions to non-refundable seats sold are considered part of the Company's passenger performance obligation. As such, those fees are deferred at the time of collection and recognized at the time the travel is provided.
Contract liability is defined as entity’s obligation to transfer goods or services to a customer for which the entity has received consideration (or the amount is due) from the customer. As of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, the Company's contract liability balance was $6,036 and $5,976, respectively. This balance consists of unearned revenue, prepaid monthly and annual flight passes, customer credits and gift card obligations. Unearned revenue represents principally the flight revenues received in advance of the actual flight. Customer credits represents unearned revenue for flight reservations that typically were cancelled for good reason by the customer. The customer has one year to use the credit as payment for a future flight with the Company. Gift cards represent prepayment of flights. The Company recognizes revenue for expired customer credits and gift cards upon expiration.

The table below presents a roll forward of the contract liability balance:

Nine Months Ended September 30,
2022 2021
Balance, beginning of period $ 5,976  $ 4,418 
Additions 58,470  41,991 
Revenue recognized (58,410) (41,755)
Balance, end of period $ 6,036  $ 4,654 
For the nine months ended September 30, 2022, the Company recognized $4,158 of revenue that was included in the contract liability balance as of January 1, 2022. For the nine months ended September 30, 2021, the Company recognized $2,990 of revenue that was included in the contract liability balance as of January 1, 2021.

Certain governmental taxes are imposed on the Company's flight sales through a fee included in flight prices. The Company collects these fees and remits them to the appropriate government agency. These fees are excluded from revenue.

The Company’s quarterly financial data is subject to seasonal fluctuations. Historically, the second and third quarter (ended on June 30 and September 30, respectively) financial results have reflected higher Short Distance travel demand and were better than the first and fourth quarter (ended March 31 and December 31) financial results. Historically, MediMobility Organ Transport demand has not been seasonal. Jet and Other revenue have historically been stronger in the first and fourth quarter (ended on March 31 and December 31, respectively) given that the Company’s by-the-seat jet service has operated only between November and April.
Blade operates in three key lines of business:
Short Distance – Consisting primarily of helicopter and amphibious seaplane flights in the United States, Canada and France between 10 and 100 miles in distance. Flights are available for purchase both by-the-seat and on a full aircraft charter basis.
MediMobility Organ Transport – Consisting of transportation of human organs for transplant.
Jet and Other –  Consists principally of revenues from non-medical jet charter, by-the-seat jet flights between New York and South Florida, revenue from brand partners for exposure to Blade fliers and certain ground transportation services.
Cost of RevenueCost of revenue consists of flight costs paid to operators of aircraft and cars, landing fees and internal costs incurred in generating ground transportation revenue using the Company's owned cars.
Fair Value Measurements
The Company follows the guidance in ASC 820, Fair Value Measurement (“ASC 820”), for its financial assets and liabilities that are re-measured and reported at fair value at each reporting period, and non-financial assets and liabilities that are re-measured and reported at fair value at least annually.
The fair value of the Company’s financial assets and liabilities reflects management’s estimate of amounts that the Company would have received in connection with the sale of the assets or paid in connection with the transfer of the liabilities in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. In connection with measuring the fair value of its assets and liabilities, the Company seeks to maximize the use of observable inputs (market data obtained from independent sources) and to minimize the use of unobservable inputs (internal assumptions about how market participants would price assets and liabilities). The following fair value hierarchy is used to classify assets and liabilities based on the observable inputs and unobservable inputs used in order to value the assets and liabilities:
Level 1:    Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. An active market for an asset or liability is a market in which transactions for the asset or liability occur with sufficient frequency and volume to provide pricing information on an ongoing basis.
Level 2:    Observable inputs other than Level 1 inputs. Examples of Level 2 inputs include quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities and quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in markets that are not active.
Level 3:    Unobservable inputs based on management’s assessment of the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability.